[WIP] Lighthouses mod

[gap]

@ Kendras
I have tested your patch. Good job!

In the next few days I will try to review all your changes and see if there's anything that can be improved.

My first remarks/suggestions below.

Originally Posted by Kendras

LLH_LaPlate folder :
- LLH_LaPlate.dat : modified values of specular strenght for textures (in order that metal looks more bright)

As far as I can see, you have basically decreased concrete material's specular strength. The resulting effect is coherent with what one would expect for such a material, but the low value also causes specular reflections from texture's alpha channel to be hardly noticeable. Couldn't we reset concrete's attribute to the value I had set in v12, and correspondingly increase metal's specular strength instead, thus simulating the specularity/glossiness of wet surfaces?

Originally Posted by Kendras

Library folder :

- Lighthouse_FX.dat : modified the light halo (smaller, and shorter light signals, same frequency 10 seconds)

The halo is finally of the right size. The quicker flashing light, makes it harder to count flashes for each period, but that's okay.
I had to restore the 3D model previously linked to the light effect though, in order to make it to light up surrounding objects (most notably lantern's glass). Was there a special reason for you to remove it?

Originally Posted by Kendras

Roster folder :

- added the German folder

What's the use of having La Plate in the German roster, since we have already added it to the French roster?

Originally Posted by gap

As far as I can see, you have basically decreased concrete material's specular strength. The resulting effect is coherent with what one would expect for such a material, but the low value also causes specular reflections from texture's alpha channel to be hardly noticeable. Couldn't we reset concrete's attribute to the value I had set in v12, and correspondingly increase metal's specular strength instead, thus simulating the specularity/glossiness of wet surfaces?

Yes, ok, let's do that.

Originally Posted by gap

The halo is finally of the right size. The quicker flashing light, makes it harder to count flashes for each period, but that's okay.
I had to restore the 3D model previously linked to the light effect though, in order to make it to light up surrounding objects (most notably lantern's glass). Was there a special reason for you to remove it?

Do you see any difference in game ? Not me

Originally Posted by gap

What's the use of having La Plate in the German roster, since we have already added it to the French roster?

When France is occupied, France becomes a neutral country. But Germans can use all strategic devices they want, including lighthouses. So, we can consider them as German, and British airplanes will attack them.

(Note : About the foam effect, I'm not sure that it's working smoothly. Sometimes, I notice an unexpected flickering effect. Could you check that attentively ?)

[gap]

Originally Posted by Kendras

Yes, ok, let's do that.

Main factors to play with are:

• Specular color (i.e. reflection brightness; black or a shade of gray close to the one used as Diffuse color=no reflections; white=bright reflections);
  
  
• Specular strenght (i.e. reflection intensity; 0 = no reflections, 255=very strong reflections)
  
  
• Glossiness (i.e. reflection sharpness; 0=completely blurred reflections, 255=very sharp reflections).

Both materials stored in the main unit and in the library file should be edited in a similar way (in both files, first 'empty' material=concrete, second empty material=metal).

Do you have time to mess with those settings?

Originally Posted by Kendras

Do you see any difference in game ? Not me

I do. Look at lantern's glass: when the light flare particle node has a 3d mesh attached, the glass becomes bright when the light is on. If the 3d model is removed, the glass stays unlit.

Originally Posted by Kendras

When France is occupied, France becomes a neutral country. But Germans can use all strategic devices they want, including lighthouses. So, we can consider them as German, and British airplanes will attack them.

Wouldn't be easier setting France as an Axis country during its occupation? Indeed, that would be in contrast with the official stance of Vichy France, but it would better reflect its actual relations with the other WWII contenders and, imho, gamewise it would be more appropriate

Originally Posted by Kendras

(Note : About the foam effect, I'm not sure that it's working smoothly. Sometimes, I notice an unexpected flickering effect. Could you check that attentively ?)

Yep, I noticed that. I am trying to track down the problem. It might be related with max number of particles / particle creation rate.
Talking about the same effect, I have some more remarks:

• I have moved the new particle generators and the related material to the Lighthouse_FX library file. For compatibility issues, I think it is better messing as little as possible with stock files which are altered by many mods.
  
  
• The main effect has two particle generators, one of them with an object particle item, the other with a bitmap particle item and the sound effect attached to it. Can you explain what each particle generator/particle is mean for? Couldn't you use just one particle generator with two array items (one for the object particle, and one for the bitmap particle?). Sorry for the many questions, but I am trying to learn
  
  
• In the Material dat, under the water spray texture, there was a fastparticle generator (which I moved in the Lighthouse_FX file together with the material/texture) having as parent the main node of the lighthouse unit. As far as I can judge, this configuration is a bit unusual. I have tried to remove the controller and/or to set the Parent Id field to 0, and the effect becomes buggy. Can you explain why you set the material/particle this way? Is there no way to link the FastParticleGenerator directly to the splash effect (as an object particle maybe), rather than linking it to the model through parent Id settings? I ask so because, if keep it like this, we will need as many copies of the controller as the lighthouses/rocks that we want to have splashes on them.
  
  
• It is me, or water splashes spawn on the wrong side relative to wave direction? After rotating splash effect's node by 180deg, splashes seem to be triggered on the correct side of the lighthouse. I am not sure though: it could be an optical illusion.
  
  
• Splashes spawn a bit too far from the concrete base. I have displaced effect's placement nodes in the lighthouse file so to form the vertices of a regular octagon having a circumradius of 5 m (moving them closer didn't work, as most of the times splash particles were triggered at once on all sides), and I have displaced particle generator's node by 1.5 m along its z axis, in the direction of the lighthouse center. Now splashes spawn directly against the walls of the lighthouse, rather than looking like water columns
  with a loose connection with the model.
  
  
• The texture used for the effect was quite poor. I have replaced it with a custom texture based on another texture I had created long ago for FX Update by TheDarkWraith (for SH5). Better resolution, a hint of blue in the RGB channel, and an actual water splash with a cloud of small water drops painted on the alpha channel. I think you will like it
  
  
• Even after bringing all the changes mentioned above, the effect still looks a bit monotonus. I think we should add some degree of randomness to its particles, and to make them affected by wind. The result we should aim for, is every splash being unique in appearance and, unlike now, not to look as the same texture reiterated n times.
  
  
• For the same reason as above, I think we should switch the two particles/particle generators that the effect is composed of, to use two different textures. That's why I asked what each of them is meant to represent

[gap]

Originally Posted by Kendras

(Note : About the foam effect, I'm not sure that it's working smoothly. Sometimes, I notice an unexpected flickering effect. Could you check that attentively ?)

Originally Posted by gap

Yep, I noticed that. I am trying to track down the problem. It might be related with max number of particles / particle creation rate.

I didn't do the math yet, but the quote below might apply to your stuttering/resetting particle effect:

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

To address patchy bubbles - you don't need anywhere near as high as 5,000 particles for this effect, a few hundred should be just fine. To get a steady release, make sure that @Helix Bubbles.FastParticleGenerator.BitmapParticles.n.Cr eation.Rate multiplied by .Life is less than MaxParticles. For example if you tell it to have a max of 100 particles, but to release 50 every second for five seconds, then after two seconds it's going to run out of particles, until the first ones start to die. So you'll have a patchy of three seconds where there are no particles.

Originally Posted by gap

Yep, I noticed that. I am trying to track down the problem. It might be related with max number of particles / particle creation rate.

Originally Posted by gap

I didn't do the math yet, but the quote below might apply to your stuttering/resetting particle effect:

Yes, I know this. In the foam_particles generator, MaxParticles=40, life for each particle is 2s, and rate of creation is 10/s, so there is a maximum of 20 particles ...

Originally Posted by gap

I have moved the new particle generators and the related material to the Lighthouse_FX library file. For compatibility issues, I think it is better messing as little as possible with stock files which are altered by many mods.

Yes ok, if it's still working.

Originally Posted by gap

The main effect has two particle generators, one of them with an object particle item, the other with a bitmap particle item and the sound effect attached to it. Can you explain what each particle generator/particle is mean for? Couldn't you use just one particle generator with two array items (one for the object particle, and one for the bitmap particle?). Sorry for the many questions, but I am trying to learn

The one with a bitmap particle item attached creates the visual effect. The other one creates one "object" which has a sound attached. Long time ago, I tried to create a particles generator with both bitmap and object items, and it didn't work properly, IIRC.

Originally Posted by gap

In the Material dat, under the water spray texture, there was a fastparticle generator (which I moved in the Lighthouse_FX file together with the material/texture) having as parent the main node of the lighthouse unit. As far as I can judge, this configuration is a bit unusual. I have tried to remove the controller and/or to set the Parent Id field to 0, and the effect becomes buggy. Can you explain why you set the material/particle this way? Is there no way to link the FastParticleGenerator directly to the splash effect (as an object particle maybe), rather than linking it to the model through parent Id settings? I ask so because, if keep it like this, we will need as many copies of the controller as the lighthouses/rocks that we want to have splashes on them.

Really, no details can escape from you ! This node was part of an attempt to create a unique generator throwing several particles generators all around the beacon, but it didn't work. You can ignore/delete it. Same remark for both nodes called "$mat_int_halo_2".

Originally Posted by gap

It is me, or water splashes spawn on the wrong side relative to wave direction? After rotating splash effect's node by 180deg, splashes seem to be triggered on the correct side of the lighthouse. I am not sure though: it could be an optical illusion.

Yes, the direction of the foam is in the other direction of the wave, because (in my mind) the water crashes on the beacon, splashes in the air and returns in the other direction with foam.

Originally Posted by gap

Splashes spawn a bit too far from the concrete base. I have displaced effect's placement nodes in the lighthouse file so to form the vertices of a regular octagon having a circumradius of 5 m (moving them closer didn't work, as most of the times splash particles were triggered at once on all sides), and I have displaced particle generator's node by 1.5 m along its z axis, in the direction of the lighthouse center. Now splashes spawn directly against the walls of the lighthouse, rather than looking like water columns with a loose connection with the model.

Why not.

Originally Posted by gap

The texture used for the effect was quite poor. I have replaced it with a custom texture based on another texture I had created long ago for FX Update by TheDarkWraith (for SH5). Better resolution, a hint of blue in the RGB channel, and an actual water splash with a cloud of small water drops painted on the alpha channel. I think you will like it

Do you have a screenshot ?

Originally Posted by gap

Even after bringing all the changes mentioned above, the effect still looks a bit monotonus. I think we should add some degree of randomness to its particles, and to make them affected by wind. The result we should aim for, is every splash being unique in appearance and, unlike now, not to look as the same texture reiterated n times.

I fear it won't be possible.

Originally Posted by gap

For the same reason as above, I think we should switch the two particles/particle generators that the effect is composed of, to use two different textures. That's why I asked what each of them is meant to represent

In the generator with the bitmap item attached, you can add as many items (with different materials linked, and different settings) as you want.

[Anvar1061]

I tested the patch I modified on another version of the GWX. And it works, except my game GWX_Rus.https://www.dropbox.com/s/ay48lvxv90...%20Rus.7z?dl=0



But I do not have the "Lighthouse" symbol on the map.

I want to deal with the problem now, whatever happens to the final version "Lighthouses mod".

@ Anvar : The foam particles have a different texture from the one I added ... !

I think I should change its name in Materials.dat.

Would you want to use Teamviewer with me ? I may help you to sort out your problems directly.

[Anvar1061]

Originally Posted by Kendras

@ Anvar : The foam particles have a different texture from the one I added ... !

I think I should change its name in Materials.dat.

Would you want to use Teamviewer with me ? I may help you to sort out your problems directly.

The problem was "GWX terrain +Sein" mod!
You will render a huge service to modders if you specify what you changed in Materials.dat and particles.dat.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Kendras

Yes, I know this. In the foam_particles generator, MaxParticles=40, life for each particle is 2s, and rate of creation is 10/s, so there is a maximum of 20 particles ...

Yep, you are right: it can't be that. It is possible that when generator's height is under the lower limit set in GenHeightControl, the generator is stopped and all its particles deleted instantly, thus causing splashes to disappear abruptly. BTW: shouldn't Runmode set to 'Stop'?

Talking about GenHeightControl, I forgot to mention that the idea of asscoaiting it with the FloatingObject controller to trigger the splash effect, is brilliant! Is it your, or you borrowed it from somewhere else?

Originally Posted by Kendras

Yes ok, if it's still working.

Sure it is. On my HD, all of your particle genertors and materials are stored in the custom FX library file I had created for light effects. I wanted to create yet another library file to be used only for materials, but it didn't work. Apparently particle materials can only be stored either in Materials.dat, or in the same file as the particle generator(s) calling for them.

Originally Posted by Kendras

@ Anvar : The foam particles have a different texture from the one I added ... !

I think I should change its name in Materials.dat.

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

You will render a huge service to modders if you specify what you changed in Materials.dat and particles.dat.

That is what I was talking about. Tweaking those files and looking for compatibility with every single mod/megamod also changing them, is a mess. Please download my files below to fix this kind of issues once and for all

Originally Posted by Kendras

The one with a bitmap particle item attached creates the visual effect. The other one creates one "object" which has a sound attached. Long time ago, I tried to create a particles generator with both bitmap and object items, and it didn't work properly, IIRC.

Okay, so the generator with the sound attached to it has no visual effect?

Originally Posted by Kendras

Really, no details can escape from you !

Originally Posted by Kendras

This node was part of an attempt to create a unique generator throwing several particles generators all around the beacon, but it didn't work.

Yes, I think that keeping them separate is a better idea, as they can be triggered independently from each other on different areas of the model. There is the other side of the coinn though: placing them all around bigger and irregular models, as the rock of La Vieille, will be a pita

Originally Posted by Kendras

You can ignore/delete it. Same remark for both nodes called "$mat_int_halo_2".

well, that's weird: if I delete it, all the bitmap particles become opaque, and I can only see whitish squares where there used to be water sprays. Can you please have a look in the issue?

Originally Posted by Kendras

Yes, the direction of the foam is in the other direction of the wave, because (in my mind) the water crashes on the beacon, splashes in the air and returns in the other direction with foam.

Okay, I will give your configuration a second try, but as I said before, during my first tests I had the feeling that if a wave was coming from south, tsplashes appeared on the north side of the lighthouse base, and vice versa

Originally Posted by Kendras

Do you have a screenshot ?

I don't, but I have uploaded my tweaked files:

Tourelle de La Plate v12 - Patch 2

Instructions: remove Particles.dat, Materials.dat and Materials.dsd from Tourelle de La Plate v12 - Patch 1, enable it over Tourelle de La Plate v12 and then enable Tourelle de La Plate v12 - Patch 2 on top of the two previous mods.

Originally Posted by Kendras

I fear it won't be possible.

Why not? Life Variation, Creation Rate Variation, Size Variation, Velocity Variation, Weight Variation, Opacity Variation, Spin Variation, RandomMotion
and Wind Coefficients are there for a reason. Many of the cool SH5 effects were created using more or less the same controllers and textures as SHIII, but making the best of the rendom features which are seldomly used in SHIII.

Originally Posted by Kendras

In the generator with the bitmap item attached, you can add as many items (with different materials linked, and different settings) as you want.

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

But I do not have the "Lighthouse" symbol on the map.

I want to deal with the problem now, whatever happens to the final version "Lighthouses mod".

The symbol gets visible on map at higher zoom levels than the lighthouse name

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

The problem was "GWX terrain +Sein" mod!

Okay, you have probably installed a buggy version of those files. There should be a working version of them somewhere in this thread, but I didn't include them in v12 as Kendras wasn't fully satisfied with them. We will keep working on terrain modifications when we will finish with the La Plate tower. Sorry for the inconvenience

[gap]

Guys can you please test this:

Tourelle de La Plate v12 - Patch 3

Enable it on top of alpha v12, v12 patch 1 (making sure that you have removed Materials.dat, Particles.dat and Particles.dsd from it) and v12 patch 2. I have enabled DX2/3 compression and alpha blending of the water spray material. The latter setting finally enabled me to get rid of the apparently unused fast particle generator (which might have messed with the other particle generators though). Last, I have rearranged the indices of the remaining particle generators.

Tested at a wind speed of 10 and 15 m/s, after the above changes the splash animation seems to me much more smooth. The stuttering still happens at times, but it is not as apparent and frequent as before. Let me know if it works for me as it does for me

[Anvar1061]

I get these streams of water.
Where can I download Materials.dat, particle.dat, particle.dsd And correct «GWX terrain +Sein»?

[gap]

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

I get these streams of water.
Where can I download Materials.dat, particle.dat, particle.dsd And correct «GWX terrain +Sein»?

Have you followed the instructions in my last post of yesterday? You probably don't, otherwise you woulndn't get those water columns. I repeat:

1. Enable the Tourelle de la Plate mod v12..
2. Remove Materials.dat, Particles.dat and Particles.dsd from Patch 1 (those files are not needed anymore by the mod), and enable it.
3. Enable Patch 2
4. Enable Patch 3

Links to Patch 2 and 3 are found in my last post of yesterday.
Scrap terrain modifications: for the monent you dont need them.

[Anvar1061]

Originally Posted by gap

Have you followed the instructions in my last post of yesterday?

Oh sure! But now I have only my Materials.dat, Particles.dat и Particles.dsd.

[gap]

Originally Posted by Anvar1061

Oh sure! But now I have only my Materials.dat, Particles.dat и Particles.dsd.

That's correct, those files are no longer needed; wave splash particles and matetials used by this mod are now stored in Lighthouse_FX.dat, but if you have correctly installed patch 2 and patch 3, splashes shouldn't look as in the picture you have linked in you previous post

[gap]

@ Kendras ;-)